How Tempting! – April 2014

After a fairly intense few months of music buying, I’ve not been feeling the itch for new music so I’ll keep this month’s look through the new releases brief. Only the cream of the crop! And also, there is Record Store Day due on the 19th of April but you can check out that stuff here without me having to go into it. I’m not seeing any must-queue-for items on the list but I do enjoy the event so I might end up queuing for a memento or two. You can never have too much Bathory vinyl after all!

But, without further ado, let’s have a gander at what April 2014 has to offer.

Triptykon – Melana Chasmata (out 14th April)

The 2nd album from Triptykon, the post-Celtic Frost brainchild of Tom G. Warrior. This is easily one of the most anticipated releases of the year. Excitingly this album has been described as “atmospheric, dark, diabolical, and dramatic” and, even more excitingly, “a fierce boulder of abhorrence”. The deluxe version of Melana Chasmata will be available with a Tote Bag… presumably a fierce Tote Bag of abhorrence. I think I’ll stick with the retail CD version, thanks.

Death – Leprosy (2CD Edition)(28th April)

Death’s Death Metal classic finally gets the reissue treatment from Relapse. The label’s previous Death reissues have been top-notch so I’m well up for this. I’ll stick with the normal 2CD version but anyone that lives Stateside or doesn’t mind paying hefty postage charges should check out Relapse for various fancypants editions. So far I’ve stuck with the 2CD versions of all the others so this’ll do me. I do wonder if Symbolic will be included in this series? It seems to have been skipped, which is a shame. Death Metal fans will also want to check out Autopsy’s Tourniquets, Hacksaws And Graves (out 14th April)

Cheap Trick – On Top of the World 1978 Live Broadcast (7th April)

There have been loads of these unofficial Radio Broadcast CDs coming out lately. I’m a big CT fan and these are usually fairly cheap so this will be on my shopping list. Worth getting for a couple of the lesser heard tracks like Stiff Competition and Heaven Tonight anyway.

Winger – Better Days Comin’ (CD/DVD Deluxe Edition) (21st April)

I reckoned Winger’s 2006 album IV was magnificent but for some reason I never bothered checking out the follow-up Karma. The tracks I’ve heard from this sound good but I’m not sure I’m in the mood at the moment so I can probably get by without this for a while yet. Fans of persevering 80s Metallers might want to check out Sebastian Bach’s Give ‘Em Hell too (out 21st April.)

Despite enjoying BLS’s Shot to Hell album very much I’ve been ignoring these guys completely ever since. The crunch point seemed to have been seeing them live and being singularly unimpressed. I’ve really no reason to suspect their albums should be under-par but, to be honest, I rarely listen to any of their albums these days so I don’t know if I need to add another one to my collection. On the flip-side, maybe this could reawaken my interest in the band? Tough call. Does it come with a Tote Bag? That could swing it.

Entombed – Hollowman (FDR Vinyl Edition) (14th April)

The seemingly never-ending run of Entombed vinyl reissues continues. I’ve got to have them all! I don’t know why… but I just do!

*****

And that’s the main events for the Metal month of April (if you’re me anyway) with Triptykon, Death, Cheap Trick and Entombed being the frontrunners. In addition, Manowar’s Kings of Metal MMXIV got put back to the 7th April so that’s still in the running too. As always, let me know what you’re excited about this month (as long as it’s music-related!) And let me know if there are any worth-getting-up-early-on-a-Saturday-morning-for Record Store Day releases I should know about. Other than the Bathory vinyl.

They wanted the Carcass/Cerebral Bore split 7″ RSD exclusive and NO ONE was going to stand in their way.

That Trypticon cover’s got to be H.R. Giger, right? I have the new Winger CD on order, and Karma, its predecessor, does indeed rock. This band are so much more than their hair metal 80’s tag. Fantastic musicianship, songwriting and arranging, and Kip Winger’s solo album’s are also excellent, showing the scope of his talent.

It is a Giger! Well spotted. It’s a brilliant cover. Totally agree on Winger’s ability. IV had some very twisty prog moments. Those guys are amazing players. I’ve only got one Kip solo album and it’s pretty good too. Can’t remember what it’s called though… Songs from the Ocean Floor or something like that?

Usually! Not always. I always refer to Wikipedia first. Which is usually reliable for telling you all the different editions.

In some cases I avoid the Japanese versions. It’s rare but sometimes there’s a deluxe or a CD single that is a better way to get the tracks.

So while it’s not a hard fast rule, Japanese imports are often the way to go. Too bad they’re very expensive….

CD JAPAN is where Mitch gets his imports, and now me as well. Mitch orders a LOT of Japanese CDS and any rock fans into them would do well to befriend Mitch on Facebook. It’s another way for me to keep on top of the bonus track situation!

Well, you know me. I never buy Japanese editions. The amount I would spend just on shipping could probably get me a couple more albums. I just have to hope that the tracks pop up elsewhere eventually like on the deluxes. Otherwise I live without unless some kind Canuck benefactor emails them to me! 😉

A combo of Discogs and Wiki if I’m researching an album usually does it for me!

You know the funny thing? They’re not THAT expensive in comparison to certain deluxe editions and whatnot. CD Japan has good prices, order them in a big batch and save on shipping. I strongly recommend them.

It’s worth thinking about… if I was buying a few the hit on the shipping wouldn’t be so off- putting… But you know, if I’m trying to cut down my spending the last thing I need is to get into buying Japanese editions. A slippery slope indeed!

Man I wish I could ship you liquids, I send you some REAL maple syrup, not that flavoured crap they sell. Big, big difference.

I remember back in the mid-90s, when I could still fly with a jug of it in my carry-on, I brought some of the good stuff with me to Glasgow as a host gift for the family that put me up. I might as well have brought liquid gold. They loved it.

Well dude, it’s mostly because last year was such an incredible success for me. I remember I went to the Japanese import vendor, bought the seven discs, and then found Trevor browsing some LPs. I told him I’d already spent my budget! (I brought extra cash for going over budget though so I was able to get some LPs too.)

Like I said I’m really anxious about that guy being there this year! I truly can’t believe my luck last year. I have been buying music on this planet for 3 decades and that kind of Japanese import score has never happened to me before.

You wanna joke there? Oh man, we Canadians are the absolute best at smoking meat. It’s because we’ve honed our skills over years of smoking meat. And the secret is doing it long and slow, an even slow burn that builds the perfect smoked meat.

When we lived in Montreal, we befriended a Guy named Luc, and his family had a sugar shack in northern Quebec somewhere. Every year they’d tap the trees and do the whole process right out there in the woods. He brought us a bottle as a gift… oh man.

Just look at that picture. You know you want to eat it ALL. The cayenne pepper is a nice twist, never tried that. But the trick is sloooooow cooking it. Baby it. It’s worth the wait oh baby. Now I want some. Dammit.